


hold my hand so that i won't fall

by juliejatpfan (anxiousrainbows)



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Caleb Covington Being a Bastard, Coming Out, Gender Identity, M/M, Multi, Non-Binary Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possession, Rated teen for language, and discussions of sexual relations, because i've got some suprises for y'all, but there will be no smut!, oh also it's in present tense, reggie's gonna figure out his gender
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:55:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29449647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxiousrainbows/pseuds/juliejatpfan
Summary: After being saved by Julie's magic hug, the phantoms get a lot more time to learn about 2020 and the people living in it. So when Julie tells them about her non-binary friend Casey, Reggie realizes the reason he never felt comfortable in his own skin— "male" was the part of his body he didn't like.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson/Reggie Peters
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

"Hey, guys?" Julie says as she walks into the studio.

"Yeah?" Reggie says.

"Can you guys find somewhere else to be today? I need the studio for a group project for my music composition class?"

"Of course," Alex says.

"What do you guys have so far?" Luke asks.

"Well, we're thinking something jazzy. Nick's gonna switch to a bass, which reminds me, Reg, can he borrow yours? And Flynn's playing trumpet. Casey's bringing their sax, and I've got the piano, obviously."

"The kid's gonna play an instrument he doesn't even own?" Luke asks.

"His is in the shop, I forget why. Something about the tuning knobs."

"It's fine, just make sure he doesn't break it. And who's Casey?" Reggie says. "You've never mentioned, uh—"

—"them," Julie finishes. "Mrs. Harrison wants us to work with different people, so she took the pairs we usually work in and put us we people we've never or hardly ever work with."

"Then wouldn't Nick work with Carrie?" Alex asks.

"Carrie's not in that class, thank God."

"Okay, well, yeah, we'll get out of your hair," Alex says.

"Wait, why are you only using they for Casey?" Reggie asks.

"Because they're non-binary, agender specifically, and they use they/them pronouns."

"What's that?" Luke asks.

"Basically, non-binary means you aren't a boy or a girl, and agender means you have no gender at all."

"Oh." The three of them say.

"Well, they're all supposed to be here in 15 minutes, so can you guys find somewhere else to hang out today?"

"I'm gonna go look for Willie."

"Do you wanna go hang out at the pool and help any kids learning how to swim?" Luke asks Reggie.

"Yeah, sure."

The 3 ghosts poof out, and Julie hears her dad call for her to answer the front door.

* * *

After Nick shut his dad's car door, he walks up to the Molina's front door, holding the flowers he bought her on the way here.

_I hope these are dahlias. They look like them. I still can't believe she played the Orpheum last night. She totally deserves it, I'm so proud of her. And those guys were good too. I didn't know their drummer could sing like that!_

"How sweet. The broken-hearted teenager fighting for his girl." Nick hears a middle-aged man behind him, dressed like he just time travelled from the 1920's to 2020.

"Do I know you?" Nick asks him, _because he definitely doesn't know me. I'm cool with being just friends with Julie if that's what she wants. Besides, she's clearly in love with the guitarist in her band, and he looks like he's somehow even more in love with her._

"You will."

The man, holding Nick's face in his hands, turns to purple smoke and goes into Nick's mouth. Meanwhile, his head was filled with thoughts of **_revenge_** and **_I must have them!_**

Nick—no, Caleb, well Caleb in Nick's body, NiCaleb— cracks his neck. "I have a fight too."

Julie opens the door. "Hi, Nick."

Nick turns around, handing her the flowers.

"Thanks," Julie says with a smile.

"Your performance last night was awesome! I went with a friend because he loves Panic, but your opening act was the cherry on top, so glad I got to see it."

**_Yes, compliment her, don't be suspicious._ **

"Thank you. I was worried the fact that the holograms weren't working like I hoped didn't detract too much. It was a lot harder with the three different holograms rather than just one."

"No, no, it was great! I didn't know the other two guys could sing!"

"Yeah, we weren't planning on having Alex and Reggie have solos too, but we heard Alex singing it one day and decided that we would all have solos. Plus, it was a huge gig for us, so showing off all of our talents was probably in our best interest."

**_Oh, so they sing too? Good to know._ **

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"Well, let's go to the studio. Reggie was cool with you playing his bass, just be careful with it, it's his pride and joy."

_So, Reggie is the bass player, and then Alex is probably the drummer._

**_Yes, that's correct. The guitarist and your rival is Luke._ **

_He's not my rival. I'm cool with him dating Julie if they're both happy with it._

"Yeah, of course. I just didn't think the guitar would sound right with this genre when the bass would be so much better."

"I agree. Flynn and Casey should be here any minute now. You can plug in the bass and start playing around with the melody we talked about on Friday."

"Cool."

Once the bass was plugged in, Nick plays a melody that he thinks would go well with the one his groupmates were working on the other day.

**_This sounds like something I would play at my club._ **

_You have a club?_

**_Yes. The Hollywood Ghost Club. Say, are you a very experienced jazz musician?_ **

_No, we just felt that the instruments we knew best suited the genre._

**_Ah, well, good thing a performer from the Jazz Age is inhabiting your body._ **

_I rather he not. Those_ are _your pronouns, correct?_

**_You kids and your obsession with pronouns. But yes, they are._ **

_Just because you're evil doesn't mean I should misgender you._

**_And how do you know I'm evil?_ **

_Because the first thoughts you had in my head were of revenge and that you must have "them," whoever that is._

Flynn, Julie, and Casey all enter the studio, hearing Nick's melody.

"That sounds awesome!" Casey says, taking out their saxophone. "Play it again, I want to hear how it sounds with the sax."

Nick plays it again, and the melodies sound great together.

"Nick, can you bring the amp over by the piano? That way we can hear what it'll sound like on the actual piano and not just a keyboard."

He moves the amp, and everyone begins playing the song they have written so far together.

"That was—" Caleb takes over his mouth, " _ravishing."_

"Ravishing? Okay, Gatsby," Casey says.

 _Yeah, that was a weird word choice,_ Julie thinks.

* * *

**~~_MEANWHILE_ ~~ **

Alex had looked everywhere. The museum, the Hollywood Walk of Fame where they met, at every skatepark he's ever seen (granted, he hadn't seen very many; Luke's "skater boy" phase ended pretty quickly after he broke his wrist falling and his mom banned him from doing it ever again). He even looked up Justin Bieber and followed him home one night and has checked there every day after. He had given up hope; maybe Caleb had Willie trapped at the HGC? It wouldn't surprise him, Caleb probably wanted as little interference with his plans as possible, and whatever he had going on with Willie was definitely an interference.

So, Alex decided to sit at the beach until the sun went down and he could be sure Julie's classmates were gone. The ocean always calmed him, at least a little.

He had saved a little kid's sandcastle from being destroyed by the lapping waves when he hears the voice.

"Beep Beep!" "Careful, kiddo!"

_Willie._

Alex runs towards the voice, hoping that it actually is Willie and not some random dude. As he gets closer, the body attached to the voice looks more and more like him.

"Willie!" Alex shouts, hoping it'll get him to turn around.

It does, and Willie starts running too, knowing the skateboard can't go onto sand.

"Alex!"

He jumps into Alex's arms, and they fall over. Willie smashes his lips onto Alex, his arms around his neck as Alex's hands thread through his hair.

They kiss until someone wolf-whistles. They spot the girl the whistler has now clearly made uncomfortable and is approaching, Willie gets an idea.

"Let's prank him."

"How."

"Give him a wedgie."

"You and Luke are going to get along so well."

They run towards the guy and pull his underwear up in unison, making him pause and allowing the girl to get away.

Alex and Willie high-five, and they sit on a nearby bench.

"So, you didn't cross over."

"Nope. Apparently life is a fairytale and love breaks curses."

"What?"

"Julie saw us flickering and begged us to go back to the club. Luke gave this whole romantic spiel and she hugs him and says 'I love you guys.' The curse breaks, we have this band hug, la dee da, we're saved."

"Basically, Julie is the most powerful person on Earth? Remind me not to cross her." Alex laughs with Willie. "So, what does that mean for us? Because I would like to have more kisses on the beach."

"Me too."

Alex initiates the kiss this time, soft and sweet. They rest their foreheads on each other's when one needs a break, but they kiss until the sun goes down.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i have fun chapter titles in my outline for this; would ya'll like me to put those in the end note?

"Hey, Jules, can I ask you about something?" Luke asks, popping his head into Julie's room.

"Yeah. What's up?" Julie sets her books aside and pats the bed next to her.

Luke sits on her bed. "What's this?" He hands her a piece of paper.

Julie reads the top. _Perfect Harmony._ She sucks in a breath.

"Um, remember when I had to do that dance class thing with Nick?" Julie says.

"Yeah. I tried to get you to skip school."

"Never do that again, by the way. Anyways, we start dancing, I'm getting into it, and then all of the sudden you pop in and we're dancing in some dream sequence like I'm in some crappy Netflix show."

"Hey, I think the show about your life would so amazing, people would wait almost half a year for news on it. But, you dreamed about us dancing? Like, romantically?"

"No, Luke, like we're mortal enemies and we're stage fighting. Yes, romantically!"

"Oh. So does this mean what I think it means?"

"Depends on what you think it means."

"I think it means you like me as much as I like you. Which is a lot. Romantically." Luke fidgets with his fingers.

"Yeah, I do. I really like you, Luke. No matter how many times Flynn tells me it's the worst idea I've ever had, and I gave up my life force for a year."

"Dating a dead guy who's come back as a ghost does seem impractical."

"Luke, you performed, as a rock band, at a book club. Everything about you is impractical."

"You know what, that's fair. But can I be your impractical boyfriend?"

"Smooth, Patterson. But only if I get to be your 'I carry the braincell' girlfriend."

"I don't know what that means, but deal."

Luke pulls Julie in for a hug. She grabs the back of his shirt while he runs his hands through her hair.

* * *

Reggie plucks at his bass, adjusting the tone knob for the song he's writing.

"Hey, Reg, I'm gonna go hang out with Willie, we'll probably go to mall. I'll be back before the sun goes down, okay?" Alex says, sliding some cash into his fanny pack to give to the various charities that raise funds there or any homeless people asking for help.

"Yeah, go have fun," Reggie says. Normally, he would get anxious when his friends left. His parents used to leave him home alone for hours at a time once he was potty-trained (which they didn't even do, Luke's mom did). Because of this, Reggie has abandonment issues, and so the boys learned that telling him where, when, and for how long they would be gone helps him not feel as bad. But lately, he's actually been itching for them to be gone so he can look something up.

Reggie played the chord progression on the new knob setting, adding it to the page.

"Ooh, whatchya writing?" Luke says as he enters the studio.

"A new country song. The working title is 'Cowboy Hats Remind Me of My Father Too Much'."

"Well, that sounds personal. I'm gonna go see Julie at school, I'll be back whenever she usually is."

"Okay. Don't get her into trouble."

"I won't."

Luke poofs out of the studio.

 _It's my lucky day._ Ray is at a shoot, Carlos and Julie are at school, and Alex and Luke are out doing things. He can finally look up this "non-binary" thing. Reggie had never felt particularly fond of being a boy, and thought that this was the answer. Once he's upstairs, Reggie walks into Julie's room. They had established a rule that if her door was open, ghosts were allowed, but if not, then they weren't to be in there. Thankfully, the door was open, and Reggie goes straight to the computer. Julie had showed them its basic functions, like looking things up and listening to music. She even said that once we're ready to record a demo, they could make the whole thing themselves instead of having to pay a professional! But Reggie is focused on using this "Boogle" she mentioned.

Once he signs into the separate login she had made for them, he clicks the button that opened the internet. It pulls up— _I guess it's called Google.—_ the search engine and he types in non-binary. It pulls up lots of things, including something Julie had mentioned called Wikipedia. Reggie scrolls until he saw something called the "Gender Wiki" and clicks on that, figuring it would be the best source since it had gender in the name. He reads the page, and sees a point saying that a non-binary person may, "Have a weak or partial connection to a gender identity, known as demigender." Feeling that fit him, Reggie clicks it and reads the new page, which leads him to demiboy. After reading the page, everything fell into place.

_I'm a demiboy._

* * *

Reggie plays the bassline for the newest song team "Juke" (as the rhythm section of Julie and the Phantoms calls them) has written while Alex adds in the beat on his drums.

"This is a great song, do you think we can try and convince Julie to let us play another school dance?" Reggie says.

"I don't know, I wouldn't. Although, we did kill that Eats and Beats gig," Alex says.

"Yeah. I hope that business lady sees one of our performances again."

"Who knows. But hey, if it's not her, then it'll be someone else."

"I guess you're right. But I don't think Flynn will be too happy if she stops being our manager."

"Julie's never letting that happen. She told me, and I quote, 'Flynn holds my braincell for me most of the time.'"

"I don't think I'm ever going to understand teenagers in 2020."

"Honestly, I didn't even understand teenagers in 1995, and I was one."

"Honeys, we're home!" Luke calls into the studio, walking in with Julie holding his hand.

"Oh, great! We're working on this song called 'Perfect Harmony,'" Alex says, reading the paper.

"Actually, we wanted to talk to you guys about something related to that," Julie said.

"What's up?" Reggie asks.

"Julie and I are dating. Boyfriend and Girlfriend. Romantic partners," Luke says.

"Congrats on finally figuring your shit out!" Alex says, giving each of them a hug. "But Luke, if you hurt Julie, I will not hesitate to turn you over to Caleb."

"I would never!"

"Yeah, and I'll help," Reggie adds. He felt conflicted about this whole thing. Like, yeah, they're happy for Julie and Luke, but something still feels... _off_ in his stomach.

"Alright, I'm calling a group hug! Reg, get over here!"

Reggie got up off the stool and wrapped their arms around his friends. Surrounded by them, _yeah, this is right._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just to clarify, reggie uses he/they pronouns in this, but i didn't add them until he came out to himself  
> *looks at the exposition i added to this chapter* "it's a surprise tool that'll help us later"

**Author's Note:**

> yell at me on tumblr: [joynersresolve](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/joynersresolve)


End file.
